Move over sushi salad, poke bowls are in the house! The Hawaiian raw fish dish has become a popular food trend and poke’ bars are popping over all over the place! I recently had a delicious make-your-own-bowl at Bravo Kosher Pizza in New York City and I’ve been wanting to recreate it ever since.

There’s nothing not to love about this light, fresh, quick and easy bowl of goodness, unless of course you don’t like raw fish! In that case, go ahead and use some mock crab (kani), or add some flaked cooked salmon. The possibilities are endless, so make it your own.

It’s different when you see a new cookbook on the shelf that you’ve never heard of before, and when you’ve actually watch that baby grow from the very beginning. You see, Naomi Nachman is a good friend, and with her friendly and outgoing personality, anyone that meets her (or follows her on social media @naominachman!) feels the same. Naomi has been open about her cookbook journey from the very beginning, and I was lucky enough to spend a day getting a behind-the-scenes look at some of the recipe development and food photography for this book. I even tested some of the recipes in the book for Naomi so it’s hard to be biased! Instead, I’m just going to share about the book, rather than reviewing it, because honestly, do you all really need my critique here?

Perfect for Pesach is exactly what it sounds like – perfect. for. Pesach. Except the recipes really work for all year round – especially for those of us who eat mostly gluten free, and those who honor strict Pesach customs that don’t allow us to use any store bought processed ingredients. I love that the book has a range of healthy and indulgent recipes, from how to make zoodles and cauliflower fried rice, to pastrami meatballs (recipe below) and fudgy chocolate bundt cake. Looking at the beautiful photography (thanks to the talented Miriam Pascal of overtimecook) it’s hard to believe that these recipes are truly kosher for Passover (hello lemon curd trifles)!

If you’re going to want to buy a Pesach cookbook, it should probably be from someone who spent two decades catering Pesach meals for clients with individual needs and requirements. Naomi shares make-ahead tips and well as freezer suggestions that are super helpful as well as cooks tip and year-round notes on most of the recipes. The cookbook has a really nice range of flavors – from Syrian inspired cauliflower crust lachmagine (you know I’m making that!) to Hawaiian poke (recipe below) and tequila lime chicken to herb crusted lamb shops. Of course you’ll also find traditional favorites like matbucha, salad nicoise, gravlax, Pesach cholent, chocolate mousse and so much more.